Lease - Option Info Page

They get better tenants, more money, less turn over, and the tenants are responsible for the first $500 in repairs, after the initial move in.

How does a lease-option work?

The money a tenant puts down (OPTION FEE) plus a portion of their monthly payment (RENT CREDIT) is credited to the purchase at the end of the lease.

What will be the purchase price?

Purchase Agreements can be 2 types: Appraised Value or Set Price.

Appraised Value - A price determined by a licensed real estate appraiser at the end of the lease. The benefit of this is the property will be purchased at a fair value. The possible disadvantage is that the property value could dramatically decrease. A helpful option is to have the buyer and seller select an appraiser and use the average of the 2 appraisals.

Set Price - A price agreed by you and the buyer/tenant. The benefit with this method is that you will have peace of mind as to what the price will be at the end of the lease.

Which type of contract is best?

Neither. There is no guaranteed way to avoid taking a loss at the end of a lease-option contract. HOWEVER, your chances of losing money are minimal as less than 10% of lease-option tenants will exercise their option to purchase.

How do you get compensated?

The option fee is a non-refundable FEE required to secure a purchase agreement. The option fee is determined by you. We keep 50% of the option fee unless it is less than $1000. For example, if the option fee is $4000, we get $2k and you get $2k. If the option fee is only $1000, we keep all of that option fee. Most option fees are about 2% of the estimated value.

How long is a typical lease?

Most buyer/tenants want a 2 year lease with the option to purchase. Our job is to bring you a prospective buyer/tenant. You decide if the deal is right for you.

Do you do credit checks?

No. We have learned that people who put a lot of money down with the intention of purchasing a home make better tenants. There are no exceptions to this rule. Here are the 5 reasons why no questions are asked:1. Anyone interested in doing a lease-option has bad credit. If they had good credit they wouldn't need to do a lease-option.2. We have over 300 people each day looking at our properties because they have money and want to move fast.3. People who pay double market deposits and a premium over market rent generally don't want to lose their investment.4. 80% of our lease-option candidates are moving from out of state and don't have a background to check.5. Having managed properties for years, we have learned that money talks and credit checks are not reliable methods of qualifying tenants.

However, we do check for evictions. If the buyer/tenant has eviction history, you may choose to require a higher option fee or decline their offer.

What is the downside to a lease-option?

You can lose money if real estate prices fall in an appraised value contract or you could lose opportunity if property values increase in value over the set price contract. There is no guaranteed way to make money in real estate. In a lease/purchase, both parties are gambling. Anyone who promises you a profit is pulling your leg.

Will my buyer/tenant have pets or be a smoker?

Probably. This person intends to buy your home. If you have problems with this then you need to stick to making less money with straight rentals. The only exception to this rule is condo/townhouse restrictions. If your property has community restrictions, let us know now so we can save everyone a lot of time and headaches.

Can I do my own background check before accepting financial terms?

No. Most investors think they can predict the behavior of a buyer/tenant based on their profession or background. They had a bad experience with a renter and think they can use the same principles for another buyer/tenant. Statistically, a buyer/tenant who puts down a huge chunk of money up front and pays a premium per month is better than a straight renter. After a deal closes, you can ask them as many questions as you like, but we don't recommend opening Pandora's Box.

Can I market my property while you try to get me a tenant?

Yes. We believe that our services cannot be matched and do not make our investors sign "exclusive agreements." If you find a tenant before we do, we just ask that you send us a courtesy message immediately to say you have found a tenant. WARNING: Nearly all of our competitors have exclusive contracts which means you will have to compensate them even if we find a tenant. The biggest mistake you can make is to place a tenant and hide it from us. A simple phone call, text or email is fine - we don't take it personally.

Do you charge anything up front to market my property?

No. We only make money if we find you a tenant. If you want us to collect rents for you, we charge 5% of the gross rent. Since your buyer/tenant is paying for the first $500 in repairs, it is not necessary to pay us for managing your money.

What am I responsible for during the lease?

You should pay taxes, garbage and sewer since these can potentially produce liens on your property. You don't want anyone else responsible for them. EXCEPTION: North Las Vegas has included water as a part of the sewer bill. This has created some confusion for clients. If your property is in North Las Vegas, your tenant will pay both, and you will get notified if the tenant doesn't pay the bill.

What do I do if my property has a pool?

We recommend that you have a preferred vendor maintain the pool and that the tenant pay you. By including a flat fee in the monthly (about $100) you can eliminate a lot of confusion. When your property is posted for lease-purchase, this item will be clear on the property details.

Why is your system so effective?

We have been improving our processes, increasing our network of agents and continually add prospective buyer/tenants to our mailing list. We have over 4,100 prospects on our email list, and I personally meet people who are interested in lease-options everyday. Las Vegas currently has high buyer/tenant demand and I regularly move lease-option properties within 1 week of posting.

Is the estimated value important?

No. This throws a lot of investors off. Today's value has nothing to do with a lease-option contract. The only purpose of putting today's "Estimated Value" is to provide potential buyer/tenants a frame of reference. It is not the price they pay to purchase your property. Inflating this value works against you. By inflating the value of your property, you will get fewer prospects and you lose credibility. Remember, our job is to bring you a deal. You decide if you want it or not.

Can I stop using your services at any time?

Yes. We don't take it personally. If you find a renter, decide to sell the property or give it to your sister, we don't care. What tweaks us is investors who have it rented for 2 weeks and didn't have the courtesy to tell us. A phone call, text or email is all it takes. Peace be with you. By the way, we have the right to fire you as well. If we find out that you are unethical or make everyone's life difficult, we will mail you your keys.

How fast can you find a tenant?

Speed of tenant placement depends on price. For example if you want to charge $3k for a small house that's about to fall over, we will never find a tenant for you. After we see the property, we can give you a price where we think we can move the property within 6 weeks. If you want the property to move faster, you can lower the price.

Is it easier to find a renter than a buyer/tenant?

No. There is more competition in the standard rental market. Since we already have a line of over 4,100 buyer/tenants looking for a lease-option, we are able to fill lease-option properties fast. We move them so fast, we have very little inventory.

Can I review your lease-option contracts?

Please!!! Download here. Every month some newbie investor wastes our time because they really didn't read this page or our contracts. You can save yourself 2 mortgage payments if you read it now. Give it to your lawyer, accountant, real estate agent, mortgage broker and anyone else you feel necessary to bless it.

Is it easy to evict a buyer/tenant if they are not paying?

Yes. Tenants are evicted every month for non-payment. One of the benefits of Nevada real estate investments is that eviction processes favor property owners. Buyer/tenants are warned in advance that there is no mercy and that they will lose all their money if payments are not made on time.

What do I need to do while you are marketing my property?

Stay in touch! The biggest problem we have is investors who leave town and don't tell us in advance. If you are missing in action while we have an interested tenant/buyer, we will give them to someone who is paying attention. Every month, some investor loses 2 months of income because they went MIA at a critical moment.

Who is responsible for repairs?

There is a 30 day grace period after a tenant moves in. After that 30 days, your tenants are responsible for the first $500 in repairs per year. If something greater than $500 crops up, you are on the hook to get it repaired in a rapid fashion. Generally, tenants will call us first and then we will call you with recommendations and complete access to our vendor list.

How smooth is the move in process?

There is always a little bit of turbulence as most buyer/tenants don't have the luxury of doing a walk-through prior to moving in. If your utilities are not on, they don't have the opportunity to confirm that the appliances or A/C work properly. Standard procedure is to give them 30 days to make sure everything is working. If there are problems, you will be required to fix them and/or compromise to bring the property up to specifications. After the first 30 days, your tenant/buyers will pay the first $500 in repairs.

Do you really help buyer/tenants purchase a home?

Yes. We provide one on one counseling and hook them up with our experienced credit repair vendors and mortgage brokers. We even check in on them from time to time to give them words of encouragement and offer free advice on personal financial matters. We sincerely want them to own a home and do what we can to help. These people are our customers for life. HOWEVER, we don't do the work for them. Despite our efforts, 90% of our buyer/tenants don't exercise their option to purchase because they did not actively clean up their credit and maintain a steady income, or simply decided Las Vegas isn't for them.

Should my buyer/tenants purchase renter's insurance?

No. Insisting that your buyer/tenants purchase renters insurance is just a battle you don't need to fight. The only benefit to you is that it covers your appliances. Since you followed my advice and only purchased used appliances, who cares? Do you really want to kill a deal over a $150 dishwasher?

Who receives monthly payments?

You have 2 options. You can collect the money or we will only charge you 5% if you want us to.

Should monthly payments go through an escrow account?

Not necessarily. An occasional buyer/tenant will insist on it. The lease-option business is riddled with owners who take money and then stop paying the mortgage. Only a few buyer/tenants insist on this approach because just one late payment will destroy a purchase agreement.

Do you charge anything at the end of the lease?

Only if you want us to assist you. Some contracts can be a little challenging if the contract is appraised value and the tenant is getting a loan. The cost for us to make this work is $1000 and is highly recommended. Since you are not paying a traditional commission of about 6%, you are saving big here.

What if the buyer/tenant doesn't exercise their option to purchase?

There are a million "what if" scenarios. Generally, if a tenant leaves a property in good order, we let them ride off into the sunset and don't send the sheriffs. If they elect to extend the option, it's in your best interest to keep similar terms and let them continue. If a buyer/tenant rides off into the sunset, they forfeit the option fee and rent credits.

What is the best way for me to avoid losing money?

Unless you have experience managing a property, you will probably want to have us collect your rent for a modest 5% fee. However we won't be offended if you want to handle it yourself. You will get to listen to the song and dance every other month, and field the maintenance calls.

GET IN TOUCH

Rental Requirements

To schedule a showing, I will need a copy of government ID. This is a safety and screening step.

Basic requirements for all rentals:

• NO EVICTIONS • Verifiable income at least 3 times rent • Rental history • Clean criminal • No previous landlord collections • If your application is weak or we can't verify something, we may require an increased deposit • Section 8: NO, I do not manage any properties qualified for vouchers

Services

FREE LAS VEGAS EVICTIONS

Do you need to get rid of a bad tenant? I will handle the Eviction service FREE when you sign a new Property Management agreement.

• You only pay court/constable fees

RELOCATION SERVICE TO LAS VEGAS

Moving to a new city is a lot of work! Let me make it easier - help you drill down to the exact type of property you want, provide video walk throughs, coordinate for a smooth transition.